A group calling itself the Suame Home Support Movement has said it will demonstrate against executives of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the constituency over their decision to prevent some prospective aspirants from picking nomination forms to contest in the party’s upcoming parliamentary primaries.
The group which comprises constituents, mostly supporters and sympathizers of the governing party said, such a move has the tendency to affect the fortunes of the NPP in the 2020 general elections.
The group has also alleged that there is voter apathy in the constituency and also hinted that an independent candidate is emerging from the NPP in the constituency to contest the parliamentary seat.
The development comes in the wake of concerns by some prospective aspirants who say they have been denied nomination forms; a move they believe had been adopted to protect sitting Members of Parliament (MPs) in the Ashanti Region.
In the case of the Suame Constituency, an aspirant John Darko who is seeking to unseat Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu in the Suame constituency has expressed frustration over his inability to pick up nomination forms to contest in the party’s primaries.
He earlier petitioned the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, demanding to be allowed to pick up the forms at the regional office citing deliberate acts of frustration at the constituency level.
John Darko, who is a legal practitioner had earlier lamented about the inability to pick nomination forms to contest in the upcoming NPP parliamentary primaries.
In as much as efforts to get forms at the constituency office have proven futile, he told Citi News that he plans to pursue his ambitions through all the means provided by the party structures.
But addressing journalists amidst chants and wielding placards to express their reservations on happenings at the constituency, leader of the group, Takyi Ameyaw Jnr. said NPP delegates in the constituency are being denied the right to vote.
“They are denying qualified members who can stand or vie as parliamentary candidates the right to be voted for and it is quite unfortunate. If we don’t take care, Suame constituency is going to lose its seat in the sense that there has been apathy. Now, a group of people in our party in the Suame Constituency are mastering an agenda that there is going to be an independent candidate rising from the NPP. It is unfortunate and it will split our votes,” he said.
He called on the party’s leadership to ensure that rule of law and the constitution of the NPP work.
The group also indicated that its members will not sit aloof and allow some persons to let their “parochial interest supersede the interest of the party”.
